Pa. Supreme Court is about to rule on the state's congressional district map

Pa. Supreme¹ Court is about to rule on the state's congressional district map

Transcript²

Pennsylvania's Supreme Court is deliberating what the state's congressional map should look like. The verdict may decide whether Republicans or Democrats⁴ have the edge in November's midterm elections.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

As early as tomorrow, Pennsylvania state Supreme Court is expected to issue a verdict about what the new congressional map should look like. On Friday, the court heard oral arguments from both sides. And its decision will determine which political party will have the edge in the critical swing state in November's midterm elections. WITF's Sam Dunklau in Harrisburg has more.

SAM DUNKLAU, BYLINE⁵: Since 2018, Pennsylvania has been evenly split between the major parties. In that time, the state has reliably sent nine Republicans and nine Democrats to represent it in Washington. But that could soon change. Though the Keystone State's population has grown over the last decade, the 2020 U.S. Census⁶ uncovered that other states grew faster, which means Pennsylvania will be losing a member of Congress. Samuel Chen a political strategist based in eastern P.A., says since people like him learned the news, he's been asking himself...

SAMUEL CHEN: Where does that seat go? What you see is, you know, places like Florida and Texas picking up seats. And so that is going to increase the likelihood of a Republican flip⁷.

DUNKLAU: That's bad news for Democrats, Chen says, since the party could lose control of the U.S. House this year if more than six lawmakers lose reelection.

CHEN: We've got a very small majority that hangs in the balance. Everyone's looking at Pennsylvania.

DUNKLAU: Especially state lawmakers, who get first dibs at drawing a congressional map each decade. And with Pennsylvania's Statehouse currently controlled by Republicans, they're in the driver's seat. After months of public comment sessions, lawmakers selected a citizen-drawn map, tweaked it and voted it out of the Statehouse. But Democratic Governor Tom Wolf gave it the thumbs down, vetoing the map because a statistical⁸ analysis showed it would give Republicans an unfair advantage.

TOM WOLF: The core of our democracy is the expression of each voter and every voter as to what they want our commonwealth⁹ to do. And they can't do that if we don't give them a fair map.

DUNKLAU: Republican state Representative Seth Grove¹⁰, who sponsored the map, argues Democrats never offered a map because they wanted the state Supreme Court to decide.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SETH GROVE: No other member introduced a map in the entire legislative¹¹ branch. This is it.

DUNKLAU: Voter groups have sued over the deadlock¹², leaving the state Supreme Court's five Democrat³ and two Republican justices to make the final call. Those voter groups, along with lawmakers, political parties and statistical experts, offered the court 13 maps. Carol Kuniholm, who leads a redistricting advocacy group that helped draw one of those maps, says she doesn't care if their map is chosen.

CAROL KUNIHOLM: What we want is a map that if voters swing left, the delegation¹³ should swing left. And if voters swing right, the delegation should swing right.

DUNKLAU: Lawyer Ben Geffen says he already knows districts have to look a certain way off the bat. They have to have the same number of people, for instance. And they can't split towns or counties up too much.

BEN GEFFEN: You know, if you don't satisfy those legal criteria¹⁴, you don't even get to be in the beauty pageant¹⁵. And once you're in the beauty pageant, I think there are a lot of different ways that the court could score it.

DUNKLAU: How well the map allows non-white voters and prisoners to have a say are among them, Geffen says. Chen says candidates and voters are stuck in the lurch¹⁶.

CHEN: How does a candidate run for an office that they don't know where the boundaries for are? They don't know where to campaign. They don't know who their voters are.

DUNKLAU: But Geffen says Pennsylvania's justices have proven they're up to the task. They drew the state's current map in 2018.

GEFFEN: The court moved swiftly. The court issued a decision that gave Pennsylvania what is, by all metrics, a very fair and competitive map. I don't know why we should expect a different outcome this time around.

DUNKLAU: Pennsylvania's primary election schedule is on hold right now. And it'll stay that way until the court issues a final map.

For NPR News, I'm Sam Dunklau in Harrisburg, Pa.

(SOUNDBITE OF FLAMENTONE'S "AFTERBEACH")

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

4 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

7 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

8 statistical   

adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table.他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• They're making detailed statistical analysis.他们正在做具体的统计分析。

9 commonwealth   

n.共和国，联邦，共同体

参考例句：

• He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
• Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。

10 grove   

n.林子，小树林，园林

参考例句：

• On top of the hill was a grove of tall trees.山顶上一片高大的树林。
• The scent of lemons filled the grove.柠檬香味充满了小树林。

11 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

12 deadlock   

n.僵局，僵持

参考例句：

• The negotiations reached a deadlock after two hours.两小时后，谈判陷入了僵局。
• The employers and strikers are at a deadlock over the wage.雇主和罢工者在工资问题上相持不下。

13 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

14 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

15 pageant   

n.壮观的游行；露天历史剧

参考例句：

• Our pageant represented scenes from history.我们的露天历史剧上演一幕幕的历史事件。
• The inauguration ceremony of the new President was a splendid pageant.新主席的就职典礼的开始是极其壮观的。

16 lurch   

n.突然向前或旁边倒；v.蹒跚而行

参考例句：

• It has been suggested that the ground movements were a form of lurch movements.地震的地面运动曾被认为是一种突然倾斜的运动形式。
• He walked with a lurch.他步履蹒跚。